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| We were up and away early collecting our friends Myra and Alexia from Miami Airport on route and heading for our 3 day adventure to the Florida Keys... Alexia and myself enjoying the sun and Adirondack chairs outside of the visitors centre in Key Largo... |
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| Alexia & Myra.... We spent a great half hour in the visitors centre not only doing the tourist bit of buying the tee shirts but getting loads of information and chatting with the very entertaining member of staff... |
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| A pelican keeping pace with us as we drive on down US1 to Duck Key.... |
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| Our first sunset from the deck of our home for the next 3 days at Duck Key, south of Key Largo & just north Marathon.... |
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| A few relaxing bevies after a long day for us all..... |
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| The 7 Mile Bridge south of Marathon on US1... This is the one road down to Key West and the southern most point of the contiguous USA....much like getting on and off Hayling Island in summer !!! |
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| It's the only hurricane evacuation road route !!!! Key West is approx an hour and half drive from our villa at Duck Key..... |
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| Only March but it's always "summer" in south Florida...temps today high 80's/90's with humidity to match...... |
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| The Key West Museum of Art & History.... |
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| We rode on one of the hop on hop off trams for the city tour to get a feel of the layout of the area.... |
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| Although on the tourist route this historic coast guard building is still a functional coast guard facility and naval office..... |
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| We just had to go here...... |
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| We've been waiting for a Florida "song" and here we are with the most famous of all....Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.... |
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| Well there you go it was a fabulous lunch....the best cheese burger (Cheese Burger in Paradise of course) I can remember and although not a margarita drinker it was delicious.... |
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| Time to walk off lunch.... |
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| Michael and I have been to the most northern point of the contiguous US in Washington State and now we are at the most southern..... They say there is always a long line for this photo op, luckily we only waited 5 minutes or so.... |
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| I never did get a good photo of the many very colourful cockerels at Key West but did manage to snap this mum and chicks while on the tram.....the chickens are all over Key West....back in the day the Cubans ate the hens and used the cocks for fighting but when cock fighting was outlawed they just let the chickens loose and they are now part and parcel of the landscape and are protected..... |
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| According to a very good fisherman friend of ours this is a tarpon fish....they are huge.... |
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| Ummm.....we could be comfortable on that !!! |
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| Mile 0... Strangely no crowds like at the southern most point buoy perhaps because it was actually hard to find the 0 marker but we persevered !!!.... |
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| A fascinating Kapok tree in front of Monroe County Courthouse at the 0 mile marker...... |
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| Mallory Square and Sunset Celebration Area..... Busy during the day but the area comes alive as the sun goes down for the sunset party that is held 365 days of the year....many street entertainers and stalls... |
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| It had been rather cloudy all day but right on cue the clouds drifted away to give us a spectacular sunset...... A fact learnt today about Key West is that they have no natural sandy beaches, the sand is imported from the Caribbean....... We have all had an interesting fun filled day but now all ready to head back to the villa and a relaxing drink..... Day 2 of our adventure in next post... |
